Why We Work Anyway
by listeninggame
Summary: Lily finds a strange note in a vase on the third floor that says 'The school is in danger. No one believes. Hidden here in the castle, Bill's sword is the key. A magic beyond comprehension in Bill's tool will defeat the forest creature that threatens the school.' Hogwarts is crumbling and it's up to Lily, Hugo, Louis, Roxanne, Lucy, and Matt to save the school.


**I wanted to write a story about the amazing friendship I see in the youngest Weasleys: Lily Potter, Louis Weasley, Hugo Weasley, Roxanne Weasley, Matthew Longbottom, and Lucy Weasley. An unlikely combination with clashing personalities, this group needed to be explained. This story is about all the trouble their friendship causes and why they work anyway. This story will be seven chapters long.**

**A little backstory for you guys: Lily was walking on the third floor when she knocked over a vase. It shattered and she found an old sheet of parchment. It said, ****'The school is in danger. No one believes. Hidden here in the castle, Bill's sword is the key. A magic beyond comprehension in Bill's tool will defeat the forest creature that threatens the school.' They thought nothing of it until Hogwarts started crumbling. The bricks were coming loose and the tapestries were falling. The windows were cracking and there was more animosity than ever between the Houses. Finally taking it seriously, L****ily and her friends (cousins) decided to look for this sword that's supposed to fix this. After three n****ights of searching and no sword, Filch catches the six of them. McGonagall calls them to her office the next morning.**

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Matt walked into Headmistress McGonagall's room first. He wasn't worried; Headmistress McGonagall loved him. He was a model student and very rarely was he called to her office. He didn't get into to trouble very often and he studied hard and did all his homework most of the time. The perfect model of what a prefect should be.

She smiled politely at him and gestured to a seat in front of her desk. He noticed there were six chairs in front of the desk. He grimaced. He knew why he was here. Matt took a seat in the chair farthest from the center on the left, because Lily and Louis always sat in the middle.

The door opened and he turned in his seat to see who entered. Lucy closed the door gently behind her. She smiled at Matt and McGonagall, but her smile quickly faded when she saw the chairs. She sat on the chair farthest to the right and watched as Dumbledore's portrait conversed with Snape's. Snape cast a wary glance at Lucy, but she beamed back at him. Snape scowled and continued his discussion with Dumbledore.

McGonagall arranged papers as she waited for the rest to come in, Matt took to transfiguring the metal charm on his necklace into different things, and Lucy chatted with the portrait of Phineas Black.

The door opened and Roxanne and Louis came in laughing, fresh off the Quidditch pitch. They saw McGonagall's strict face and stopped laughing. Roxanne sat next Lucy and Louis sat next to Roxanne. McGonagall glared at him and he attempted a sheepish smile. When it didn't seem to melt her heart with all his glorious gorgeousness, he stopped smiling and looked awkwardly at the ground.

Roxanne was the first to speak, "Er... Headmistress? I don't mean to be nosey or anything, but... _why_ exactly did you call us here?"

"I will answer that question, Ms. Weasley," replied McGonagall, "when everyone is present."

Roxanne huffed and muttered, "Thought so."

It wasn't long after when Hugo came in. He was putting a book in his satchel and didn't notice everyone was looking at him. He was startled when he looked back and saw all eyes on him. He blushed and took a seat next to Matt, nodding in respect towards McGonagall.

A long, awkward silence followed seeing as Phineas refused to keep talking with Lucy and she had fallen silent. McGonagall had apparently run out of papers to shuffle around to appear busy and was now looking through her drawers. Everyone was looking around, bored out of their mind. Lily was late for practically everything.

The door opened again and Lily shuffled in and plopped down in her chair with a huff. McGonagall gave them a quick smile and said, "Now that all six of you are here, I would like to address the fact that all six of you were found snooping around the dungeons last night. Would you like to explain why?"

They stayed silent. McGonagall nodded. "I see," she said through pursed lips, "Then I'll just have to make sure your parents are aware of your detention."

"No!" Lucy exclaimed in her not-yet-faded Southern American accent, startling the Headmistress who looked up at her wide-eyed.

"Excuse me, Ms. Weasley?" McGonagall said, raising an eyebrow.

Lucy gasped and covered her mouth. She tried to explain more calmly, "What I mean to say is... I can't get another detention this month! My dad will be so mad! You know how he is!"

The Headmistress nodded and said, "I understand your concern, but without a proper explanation, I'm afraid you won't be able to be excused." She waited for an explanation, but when no one answered she asked, "Mr. Longbottom, would you care to explain?"

"I... er... can't tell you," Matt said, his voice lowering to a whisper.

"You can't _tell_ me?" McGonagall questioned.

Lily spoke up for her friend, "Headmistress McGonagall, I wish we could tell you, but we just can't. Please don't give us detention."

"I can't go only your word, Ms. Potter. I will have to judge that for myself."

"Headmistress, please," Roxanne begged, "We _can't_ tell you."

"Why not?"

"We..." Roxanne looked at the others, "can't tell you that either."

"Well, then all six of you will be serving detention tomorrow."

Louis groaned and pleaded, "Don't make all of us serve detention! Lily made us! She's always getting us into trouble. She made us sneak around after dark to find that vase in first year, we dove into the Black Lake after her in second, we went through countless trips that either saved the school, helped some unknown cause, or something else that you, of course, know all about. And now she has us looking for some guy named Bill's butter knife!"

McGonagall looked between Lily and Louis incredulously. "Bill's... _butter_ knife?" she echoed, "Ms. Potter, what is this butter knife you are seeking in the castle at the dead of night?"

"She says you can't know, but I think you should. Of course, I was outvoted. So we can't tell you, but you would be so freaked out! We don't think it's dangerous, but you never know. It _is_ a sword."

"Is that so, Mr. Weasley? Do please elaborate," McGonagall said, folding her hands on her desk. Lily glared at Louis but forced a wide grin on her face.

"Louis!" she sang in a sugary sweet voice. He made a hum of aloof recognition and looked at her expectantly as if nothing was wrong. Lily sang through gritted teeth in the same sweet voice, "If you don't shut up right now, I am going to pummel your face so much that not even your precious fan club will recognize you."

Louis gasped and held his face in his hands. McGonagall glared at the two and continued, "If this a matter that threatens the safety of my students, I feel that I should know what exactly this sword is."

"Er... did I talk too much?" Louis asked, looking at the others.

Lucy looked at him in disbelief and said, "Ya think?!"

"It's not my fault!" Louis exclaimed.

Lily spoke before Lucy could reply, "It is completely your fault!"

Louis stood up in his chair so that he was towering over her and yelled, "You're the one who led us into all this!"

Lily stood up, but she was still a head shorter than him. She yelled up at him, "You know it wasn't only me! We all agreed this was important!"

"Maybe it isn't important enough to be getting detentions over!"

"We wouldn't be getting a detention if it weren't for you!"

Hugo grabbed Lily's hand at the same time McGonagall had decided that she had had enough. "That is enough!" she exclaimed, standing up to equal height with Louis. Louis and Lily sat down. McGonagall continued, "I am shocked by the blatant disrespect you two have shown in the presence of an authority figure. Now either you six will tell me of this sword or I will send officials to search your rooms and have you interrogated by some of the top aurors in the Ministry of Magic."

"Isn't that a bit much?" Roxanne asked.

McGonagall replied, "Not if this involves a sword, a possible threat to my students."

Lucy looked at Roxanne who looked at Louis who turned to Lily. Lily pinched Hugo. Hugo yelped and jumped up. He looked at Lily, Louis, Roxanne, and Lucy looking back at him expectantly. He looked to the left and saw Matt was watching him, too. He sighed and pulled his wand out of his satchel. McGonagall didn't notice, because she was scrutinizing Lily's face for the truth.

Hugo spun his wand low by his legs and flicked it towards the big window overlooking the Black Lake behind McGonagall's desk. Screams rang out all around the Black Lake. A giant squid had come out of the water and was waving its many arms around frantically.

McGonagall looked behind her and gasped, "What the..?"

She pushed her chair back and stood. The six children stood up, too. Lily made a very convincing scream and Louis's face was a mask of terror. Matt gasped loudly at the sight. Hugo was already running towards the door.

Lucy exclaimed, "Oh no!" She managed to pass as believable.

Roxanne on the other hand... "Oh no! That's so... scary! And real-looking! Ahh! I'm scared and we're running away!"

They all bolted out the door, hoping beyond hope she wouldn't follow. McGonagall was leaving her office, too, to fix whatever was happening at the Black Lake. They, on the other hand, ran towards Gryffindor Tower. They only stopped when they reached the Fat Lady and yelled the password at the portrait. They jumped inside and ran up to the boys' room.

Louis exhaled loudly as he fell back on his bed. Hugo sat down on his bed and crossed his long legs under him. He pulled his satchel onto his lap and started looking through it. Lily sat down next to Hugo on the chest in front of his bed and watched him rifle through his "purse." Lucy sat down on the floor in front of one of the empty beds and looked around curiously, because she was the only one who hadn't been there before. Roxanne sat on a chest in front of another empty bed and held her face in her hands. Matt closed the door behind himself and turned to look at the rest.

Louis spoke first, "Really? 'That's so _real-looking_'?"

"I'm not a good actor! I get it!" Roxanne said, turning away from Louis.

Lucy turned to Matt and asked, "Whose bed is this?"

"Mine," he answered as he walked over to sit against the headboard. Lucy got up from the floor and lied down next to him.

"I like the Hufflepuff boys' rooms better," Lucy said, staring up at the scarlet canopy.

Louis sat up on his elbows and raised an eyebrow. "You've been in the Hufflepuff boys' dorm?"

"Of course," she answered as if it was the most obvious thing.

Louis waggled his eyebrows suggestively and said, "You get busy up in Hufflepuff?"

"Eww, Louis!" Lily shrieked, throwing a pillow at him. He deflected the pillow, laughing.

Lucy scoffed at Louis and replied, "As if. We are closer than you'd think in Hufflepuff."

Matt frowned, not knowing what she meant. He asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, we aren't very shy or insecure when we are with only other Hufflepuffs. We walk around in our pajamas on weekends and the girls hang out in the boys' dorm a lot just to talk. We are on speaking terms with almost everyone in our house, no matter the age, and we are sometimes a bit silly together after a Quidditch match. There is not a single Hufflepuff in the entire house that I don't have an inside joke with. And we aren't exactly worried about girls and boys... _interacting_. Actually, in third year, I slept in the sixth year boys' dormitory, because Trudy and Mackenzie were telling scary stories all night."

"What?!"

"What's it like?" Lily asked with big, curious eyes. She leaned forward on her hands, intrigued.

Lucy's eyebrows shot up her forehead. "Sleeping? Lily, I didn't know you were an insomniac."

"No. I meant spending the night in a boys' room."

"Loud," Lucy replied, "Martin snores and Joseph talks in his sleep."

"Why didn't you spend the night with Alice?" Matt asked.

"I love Alice and all," Lucy replied, "but I never want to share a room with Sabrina Maxwell ever. And Lysander is super trustable."

"Is trustable a word?" Roxanne questioned.

"No," Hugo answered, looking away from his satchel, "The right word would be trustworthy." He resumed rifling through his bag.

"Yeah, that's what I meant. Lysander's super trustworthy," Lucy corrected.

Louis scoffed, "So what makes their room so much better than ours?"

"Well," Lucy started, "their room is a circle with the beds against the walls and a fluffy yellow carpet and a circle chair in the middle. I love circle chairs."

"Circle chairs?" Lily inquired.

"You know. The circle chairs in dressing rooms to wait on."

"Oh, I kn- Hugo, _what_ are you looking for?!" Lily exclaimed to the tall boy next to her.

Hugo held his tongue between his teeth in concentration as he reached deep in the leather bag. He answered, "I found a... a clue." He smiled triumphantly as he pulled a slip of wrinkled parchment out of his bag.

Roxanne jumped excitedly onto Hugo's bed to peer over his shoulder. "What's it say?" she said excitedly. Finally, a breakthrough. Lucy ran to sit in front of Hugo on the ground next to Louis and Matt.

"I was in the library when I saw this in a book I was reading about misconceptions about magic made by Muggles, and I wrote it down," Hugo explained as he handed the small slip to Roxanne.

Taking a seat on his other side on the chest, Roxanne read the messy script to the rest of the group, "Many poets consider words a type of magic that can heal or harm."

Lily scrunched her eyebrows together and said, "I don't get it."

"It got me thinking," Hugo started explaining enthusiastically, "Everyone knows the quote about how the pen is mightier than the sword."

He got varied answered between nods, shakes, and blank stares. He continued, "Right. Well, there's a quote that says the pen is mightier than the sword. That is true in many cases. The pen has a power beyond physical pain. It can write the sweetest love notes and make anyone feel like they're walking on air or they can verbally defile everything you are and leave you naked, exposed, and feeling as if you've been stabbed in the heart by a sword."

Matt's and Roxanne's mouths pursed in almost understanding, Lucy bit her lip, struggling to get it, and Lily knitted her eyebrows together as if she were trying to force her brain into comprehending. Louis scoffed, "If your done with your poetic flower words, Shakespeare, could you explain what you just said or am I going to have to actually pick up a book?"

Hugo ignored his insult and said, "I'm getting to that. Firstly, we should focus on the first point I made. I don't think we're heading in the right direction. I think we aren't supposed to be looking for a sword. I think that 'sword' was figurative language for a pen."

"Why?" questioned Matt, "It flat out said 'sword' not 'pen' and nothing indicated to it being a pen."

"Remember what the slip said? 'Many _poets_ consider words a type of magic that can heal or harm.' I thought of all the Muggle poets I know of and one particularly stood out when I thought of pens and misconceptions of magic."

"There are actually poets named Bill?" Louis asked incredulously, "No, there aren't! That's not a poet-y name."

"I never said his name was Bill," Hugo said vaguely with a tiny smile.

"That makes no sense."

"Do you know Uncle Bill's real name?" Hugo said, now outright smirking.

"Of course I know. He's my dad. His name is Will..." Louis's eyes grew to the size of saucers as he finished his father's name, "...iam. His name is William. But we call him Bill because he hates the name William."

"Right. And can you think of any famous Muggle poets named William? Any one at all," Hugo said, smiling teasingly.

Louis reached up and hit his shoulder, "I get it now. Shut up with that patronizing smile."

Hugo laughed and said, "We are looking for William Shakespeare's pen! Not Bill's sword!"

"That explains why it said a magic beyond comprehension! Swords aren't that magical! Only Godric Gryffindor's really, but his name isn't Bill! I get it!" Lily exclaimed.

They all cheered and started jumping on and around Hugo's bed. They were obnoxiously jumping and yelling in satisfaction. A knock on the door didn't disrupt them and Connor Fayhan walking in didn't stop them either and when he rolled his eyes and closed the door they kept on exclaiming their accomplishment.

Then Lily stopped jumping. Slowly everyone turned to see why their unofficial "leader" had stopped cheering and was focusing intently on a nothing that they couldn't see.

"What's up, Lils?" Lucy asked. She was as confused as the rest of them.

"If... if William Shakespeare was a Muggle, how did he get his pen into our school?" Lily asked, poking a hole into the plan. Surprisingly, Louis was the one to answer her question.

"Most likely it was a friend. The warning speaks about him in third person, so it couldn't be him. And it calls him Bill instead of William or Shakespeare. Bill is a nickname. You call your friends that." He looked up at the shocked faces of his friends, "What? I can be smart."

"Either way I haven't been able to find anything else in the library about it," Hugo said to pull the attention away from his out-of-character friend, "We're going to have to go to the Restricted Section tonight."

"After what McGonagall said?!" Roxanne exclaimed, "How are we going to get by unnoticed now?"

"Sorry, Hugh," Lily shrugged, "Roxy's right. There is no way to get around it with out James's map or Al's cloak."

"Y'all are thinking too small!" Lucy declared, standing up on Louis' bed, "We have our own Potter with her very own magical souvenir."

"My mirrors?" Lily asked, scrunching up her eyebrows, "How are those going to help?"

"Look out!"

Lily ducked and covered her head. When nothing hit her she stood and glared at Hugo. He laughed at her and explained, "I meant we could use the mirrors for look out."

"Oh," Lily said, feeling a bit dumb.

"Hugo, that's brilliant!" Roxanne exclaimed. "Why haven't we thought of that before?"

"Let's meet up after dinner in the library," Hugo said, "We'll come up with a plan there."

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**I really hope you like it. I worked hard on this. Stay tuned for chapter two, What Hugo Gets Us Into. **

**Any input at all is welcome. I take into deep consideration all suggestions and I answer all questions. I have perfected the art of taking flames and I don't get annoyed by 'please continue!' or 'I like it.' I enjoy hearing others' headcanons about the next generation. A lot. You can start any discussion with me. I'll let anybody in on my future projects. And I'd love to give ideas to anybody who has been diagnosed with Writer's Block. Reviews of any shape and size are accepted. **

**Review a smiley face, which is this: :), if you actually read the ANs. I'll write you a one-shot for free. Or just if you have no input whatsoever, just review a simple :). It'd be much appreciated.**


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